Memory Lane

I finally got all of our computer's files backed up today on the external hard drive we bought at Christmas time. It was a good job done. We've had a couple scares recently where we thought we had a virus, but thankfully it's been sorted out. Already I keep all the pictures and videos that are 9-12 months old on the external hard drive (we now have two). All of the pictures of Matt and I in high school and college, baby pictures of Gabe and Matt's deployment and return pictures are all on the external hard drive.

Going through it today, I started looking for pictures of Gabe when he was around Zander's age. Sometimes it's so hard to remember exactly what he looked like then. Looking at them, I can't believe how much he's changed. To me, he doesn't even look like the same boy anymore! Now that Zander is here and is the baby, I have forgotten what it was like having Gabe as the baby. Zander's the one that snuggles, Zander's the one I cart around now, Zander's the one demanding the attention. Gabe plays games and reads books and does puzzles, Gabe can play toys by himself and fix himself lunch, Gabe doesn't need me as much as he did. Four years seems like a lot of time, but when I look at these pictures, I feel like this just happened. I remember everything from each of these moments caught in time. I'm glad I have these, I'm glad I have these memories to look back at and marvel.

There's a quote I put in Gabe's baby scrapbook that I remember reading and feeling as if it encapsulated my feelings at that exact moment. It still applies.

"You are a marvel. Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again... And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know who you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michaelangelo, A Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel." - Pablo Casals

Enjoy the pictures below and a trip down memory lane for me.